Different systems are known for conveying article carriers; a distinction can be drawn essentially between the load carriers being borne with rolling action on roller conveyors and being borne with sliding action, in which case the load carrier rests on load-bearing elements which are borne with sliding action on an underlying surface. The load carriers which are used for bearing with sliding action can be broadly divided into load-bearing belts and chains. Load-bearing-belt or chain conveyors are particularly suitable in order to allow so-called transverse transportation of pallets, this often being necessary and being unsuitable for the roller conveyor on account of the roller spacing which has to be bridged.
The production of conveyors of the above-described type involves considerable outlay since, in practice, the two conveying principles have to be made available alongside one another, which means a very large range of components, with corresponding storage and keeping replacement parts in stock, and which thus, ultimately, renders the conveyor significantly more expensive. Individual customer-specific solutions and special designs become more expensive basically as a result of high production and design costs, and long delivery times are also disadvantageous for the customer.